Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Laura Dempsey

#Greystones - Greystones Sailing Club has described the loss of junior member Laura Dempsey in a drowning incident in Crete as “a harrowing tragedy to happen on a family holiday”.

Dempsey, 15, was found unresponsive in her hotel pool by her parents on Sunday evening (25 June) when they became concerned for her whereabouts, as The Irish Times reports.

Tributes have come from around the community of the North Wicklow town for the popular teenager, who had recently completed her Junior Cert exams.

Greystones Sailing Club Commodore Daragh Cafferky said its members, which include the Dempsey family, have been left “devastated” by the tragedy.

“Laura had a very central role in our club and the loss of a child is deeply traumatic,” he told The Irish Times. “As a family they are a very pro-active family when it came to sports, in particular water sports, so out deepest condolences are with Nicki and John and the extended family at this dreadful time.”

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Greystones Harbour

About Match Racing

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.

In yacht racing, it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together in a team race, with their results being combined.

A match race consists of two identical boats racing against each other. With effective boat handling and clever use of wind and currents, a trailing boat can escape the grasp of the leader and pass. The leader uses blocking techniques to hold the other boat back. This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics.

About the World Match Racing Tour

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors